Kolkata: The auction for the Indian players for the IFA-backed Premier League Soccer, scheduled to be held on Sunday, was postponed on Saturday.
"The players' auction will not be held tomorrow. IFA wants to sort out the issues with the AIFF and then we will go on a full-fledged basis. Utpal Ganguli (IFA secretary) is going to New Delhi to sort this out (with AIFF)," Bhaswar Goswami of the Celebrity Management Group, the commercial partners of the tournament, told PTI.
Goswami, however, maintained that the tournament was on course and would be held as per schedule - from March 24-May 6.
"We may have to hold the auction next week. But there is no change in tournament schedule. PLS is definitely on," Goswami said.
The event, football's answer to the highly-successful IPL in cricket, with players like Hernan Crespo, Fabio Cannavaro on board, was mired in controversy when the parent body FIFA reportedly suspended permission to hire foreigners.
The AIFF, according to insiders, had asked FIFA to suspend the acquired passwords which enable the clubs to enter the Transfer Matching System, a per-requisite to hire any professional footballer.
Crespo is the costliest footballer of the tournament, bought by the Barasat franchise for a whopping USD 840,000.
Italy's World Cup-winning captain Fabio Cannavaro went for USD 830,000 (Siliguri), Robert Pires of France fetched USD 800,000 (Howrah), Nigerian Jay Jay Okocha got USD 550,000 (Durgapur) and Robbie Fowler of England was sold to Kolkata for USD 530,000.
The tournament offers a total prize purse of Rs 1.5 crore.
Comments
0 comment